Vietnamese billiard player Nguyen Tran. Photo webthethao.vn

The 26-year-old advanced to the quarter-finals of the first World Cup event of year that wrapped up on Sunday, although he was not seeded.

The Vietnamese defeated top players including world No 9 Sameh Sidhom of Egypt and No 11 Semih Sayginer from Turkey.

In the latest world rankings, Tu has jumped 79 places to No 62 in the world.

Ngo Dinh Nai also climbed four places to No 25, and Nguyen Quoc Nguyen rose from No 24 to 21.

The top Vietnamese player is Tran Quyet Chien who is world No 7. He is followed by No 16 Nguyen Duc Anh Chiến and No 27 Do Nguyen Trung Hau.

The top three in the world remain Dick Jaspers of the Netherlands, Marco Zanetti of Italy and Torbjorn Blomdahl of Sweden. — VNS